CHILDBIRTHS

Mr L. P. Rodrigo asked the Minister for Health how many births have been recorded by or reported to the Hospital Authorities from 1st January, 1967, up to the latest convenient date -

(a) in which the child was born with physical or mental abnormalities as to seriously handicap it;

(b) in which a pregnancy had been the result of -

(i) rape or incest;

(ii) intercourse with an insane person;

(iii) intercourse with a feebleminded person;

(c) which resulted in the death of the pregnant woman as the pregnancy had involved risk to her life:

(d) which resulted in physical or mental injury to the pregnant woman as the pregnancy had involved such risk to her.

Mr Chua Sian Chin: (a) Child born with physical/mental abnormality,

1967 = 78 (0.22 per cent of births). 1968 = 109.

(b) (i) Pregnancy following rape/incest = 5.

(ii) Pregnancy following intercourse with insane person = Nil.

(iii) Pregnancy following intercourse with feeble-minded person = Nil.

(c) Maternal deaths following pregnancy in Kandang Kerbau Hospital,

1967 = 19 deaths.

1968 = 12 deaths.

(d) It is not possible to give figures of the number of women who suffered physical or mental injury following the birth as follow-ups of women following their confinements are not carried out indefinitely. Further, any morbid condition which a woman suffered from is treated at other institutions, and there is no linkage in the records to be able to provide for information on these matters. Hence, unless the morbid condition occurred soon after birth, no infor mation will be available.

The number of deaths given in my answer should be related to the total number of births in the Hospital which were 38,252 and 36,727 respectively. This gives a maternal mortality rate per thousand births at 0.5 and 0.33 respectively. Maternal mortality is defined as the number of women dying shortly following childbirth whether a child was born alive or at still birth. The number of deaths is usually given as a rate, i.e. total number of maternal mortalities per thousand births. The latest figures available from the overall maternal mortality rate in Singapore in 1965 and 1966 were 0.4 and 0.5.